Kevin McCarthy Announces He Is Leaving Congress at the End of This Month


Posted originally on the CTH on December 6, 2023 | Sundance 

Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed [SEE HERE] that he is leaving congress at the end of this year and will not seek reelection.

This announcement follows significant sunlight upon the GOPe wing of the DC Uniparty, as the big ugly battle between the voting base and the detached professional Republican apparatus rages on. Based on policy advocacy and votes registered, there are approximately 100 establishment GOP House Republicans, who represent DC interests, and approximately 100 Republicans in the House who honor the representative wishes of their constituents. It is a pretty even split.

Despite that 50/50 reality, the pragmatic conservative base, the America-First MAGA movement, is in far better shape than ever before. Having slightly more than half of the Republican House representing the people is significantly more than in the past 20 years. Thanks to the sunlight provided by Donald Trump, we have made progress. Here’s McCarthy’s announcement.

(Via Wall Street Journal) – I’m an optimist. How could I not be? I’m the son of a firefighter. For 17 years I’ve served in the same congressional seat—the same office in which I was once denied an internship. Only in America.

I helped lead Republicans to a House majority—twice. We got more Republican women, veterans and minorities elected to Congress at one time than ever before. I remained cheerfully persistent when elected speaker because I knew what we could accomplish.

Even with slim margins in the House, we passed legislation to secure the border, achieve energy independence, reduce crime, hold government accountable and establish a Parents’ Bill of Rights. We did exactly what we said we would do.

We kept our eyes on America’s long-term global challenges by restoring the Intelligence Committee to its original charter and establishing a bipartisan Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

We reduced the deficit by more than $2 trillion, revamped work requirements for adults on the sidelines, cut red tape for critical domestic energy projects, and protected the full faith and credit of the U.S. We kept our government operating and our troops paid while wars broke out around the world.

No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing. That may seem out of fashion in Washington these days, but delivering results for the American people is still celebrated across the country.

It is in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started.

I will continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office. The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders. (read more)

McCarthy’s departure represents a significant change in the GOPe apparatus. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to shift the Republican Party back to a party that is focused on America, but it is much improved this year.

On Tuesday, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a former member of House GOP leadership, said he wouldn’t run for re-election, though he will serve out the remainder of his term.

[McCarthy’s] retirement will also kick off a race for his Bakersfield-based district seat, which is solidly red. And there are plenty of ambitious GOP politicians eager for a rare shot at a safe seat. If McCarthy resigns after Friday at 5 p.m., as expected, then Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom can choose whether to call a special election or keep the seat vacant until the next election. He chose the latter in 2020, when former Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) resigned after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds.

If McCarthy formally steps down before Friday at 5 p.m., then Newsom would have to call the special election due to filing deadline rules. (more)

Remarkable Details – Matt Gaetz Gives Details of Backroom Machiavelli Tactics Triggered by Kevin McCarthy During House GOP Conference


Posted originally on the CTH on October 25, 2023 | Sundance

This is deep weeds inside baseball, but boy howdy does it tell a story. Representative Matt Gaetz (MAGA, FL) goes through the details of yesterday’s House republican conference assembly as they select a Speaker nominee.

What Gaetz reveals in detail is how Kevin McCarthy has been working the conference to undermine any other Speaker candidate so that McCarthy would be renominated as the only possible alternative. The insight and details are really interesting. This is a must watch.

Newt Gingrich, Hillary Clinton and Mark Levin Are All Apoplectic That Kevin McCarthy Has Been Removed


Posted originally on the CTH on October 5, 2023 | Sundance 

In what can only be compared to the prior mask dropping by conservatives when Donald Trump announced in 2015 that he would build a wall to stop illegal immigration, Matt Gaetz has triggered a similar round of revelations as New GingrichHillary Clinton and Mark Levin all align against the removal of Kevin McCarthy.

The only common thread that binds all three is Ukraine and money.  Funny how the personal economics of the thing always seems to surface when contrast against policy.

It appears the primary concern over the removal of Kevin McCarthy is a weakening in the likelihood that Ukraine would get an open line of unlimited credit from U.S. taxpayers.  Obviously, the prepositioning of the Clinton Global Initiative and the BlackRock “green Ukraine” investment mechanism is threatened if the Ukraine conflict against Russia is not supported by U.S. finance and weapons.

Indeed, BlackRock and JPMorgan have set up the Ukraine reconstruction bank, and we can only imagine how widespread those dependent tentacles extend into the public-private halls of Congress.  When the masks start dropping, it’s always the money.

Think about the U.S. political system, the funding of the UniParty apparatus by multinational financial interests, the constructs and policies that drive the DNC/RNC alignment by those same multinational financial interests, and suddenly the commonality of seemingly disparate networks comes to light.  Yup, it’s the money.

Hillary Clinton – […] “They do not represent a majority of even the Republican Party. When you look at the extremists in the House, they certainly don’t represent a majority of the country,” she added. “Somebody has to stand up and say, ‘Enough!’

“At some point, there needs to be a backlash against the control that this small group of extremists have. And I don’t know who will lead that, but let’s hope whoever becomes the new speaker will,” Clinton concluded. (link)

Is it coincidental that Hillary and Bill just reorganized the Clinton Global Initiative to gain financially from a new Ukraine operation?  I think not.

Newt Gingrich and Mark Levin are both similarly positioned in their Ukraine advocacy.  Suddenly Matt Gaetz has become an enemy of the statists.

Meanwhile, the BlackRock operation from the White House is now shifting State Department funds in an effort to keep the financial pipeline to Ukraine open.

To say that BlackRock is invested in globalism, climate change and leftist politics, would be a severe understatement {See Here}.  Larry Fink is the CEO, and people like Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton’s attorney of record, are on the board.

The Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute, the guy who tells the $8.7 trillion investment firm BlackRock where to put their money, is Tom Donilon – President Obama’s former National Security Advisor (before Susan Rice), and a key advisor to Joe Biden throughout his career in politics, who was also recently put in charge of U.S-China policy by the State Dept. {link}

WASHINGTON DC – The Biden administration is considering using a State Department grant program to send additional military aid to Ukraine as Congress continues to battle over weapons funding, according to two U.S. officials with knowledge of the discussions.

The White House is weighing a range of options as it scrambles to find additional money to support Ukraine after lawmakers stripped funding in a last-minute deal to avert a government shutdown, said the officials, who like others interviewed for this story were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. (read more)

The amount of effort underway in order to protect the Ukraine interests of the people in Washington DC is stunning.

Kevin McCarthy Removed as Speaker – It’s Time to Expel California From the Union


Armstrong Economics Blog/Rule of Law Re-Posted Oct 3, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

California has become a foreign country that should be expelled from the Union. There has been much discussion of how a state can secede from the Union. Justice Scalia wrote a letter in 2006 saying the answer was no and that it had been decided by force with the American Civil War. That is not really a constitutional answer.

Interestingly, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif. (RINO)) has been removed as House speaker by a vote of the House of Representatives on a motion to vacate the chair brought by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on a 216–210 vote. This unprecedented action now creates a political crisis, plunging the House of Representatives into inevitable confusion and uncertainty, not to mention a highly contentious battle over the speaker position.

This coincides as it simultaneously battles the calendar to complete the appropriations process and continues its impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden.

This raises serious questions about California and whether it should be expelled from the United States, especially as the Democrats want to put up California Governor Newsom to replace Biden – OMG! Is there any way a state could be removed from the US without its consent? All of the worst politicians, from Pelosi, Feinstein, David Valadao, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump, Adam Schiff, and McCarty to Newsom, have all been outright anti-American core values. Out of 53 politicians from California, only ten voted against impeaching Trump. At the same time, they support Biden and would vote against impeaching him.

A Constitutional amendment could do this job. But that is not so quick of a process. The Constitution provides that Congress may propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. Perhaps a Constitutional Convention could muster a two-thirds vote to expel California – from my mouth to God’s ears.

However, there is a hitch. “[N]o State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.” If a state is removed from the Union, it is not represented in the Senate. This begs the legal question: If a State is expelled at this point in time, is it still a state for the purposes of the Constitution? I would say NO WAY!

The Constitution does not describe such a method, and no one has ever tried to do so in the history of this imperfect union. Therefore, it cannot be prohibited. We know that during and immediately following the U.S. Civil War, some States attempted to secede from the U.S. to join the Confederate States of America. They were treated unconstitutionally for being denied the right to secede; they were still not allowed to be represented in Congress. They were demanded to end their insurrections, and a post-war government had to be approved by the Union forces in the Reconstruction era was in place. They were effectively stripped of all representation and treated themselves as slaves.

The Union States cleverly claimed that being denied Due Process of Law and stripped of representation in Congress, somehow using legal fiction, this was not on the theory that these areas had ceased to be States of the Union. The legal fiction used was based on the idea that there was a vacancy in the positions because these areas had not held elections for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Now comes the 14th Amendment, which was, at best, not Constitutionally valid.  The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. It has been hailed as addressing citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for former slaves. However, it is punitive and a denial of Due Process in and of itself, for the defeated Confederacy bitterly contested the amendment. They were denied all representation in Congress and had been defeated militarily. They were given NO CHOICE and were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. But if they were not represented, then how could they ratify the Amendment?

It was ratified by duress, and that is fraud under the law. Still, people sometimes sign contracts privately under duress or because of undue influence or coercion. These are all legal terms referring to questionable tactics, and they may invalidate a contract. This is my argument that the 14th Amendment is unconstitutional, for the South was denied representation unless they ratified the Amendment.

They could elect no one and not appoint even a Senator. This is why they are now trying to apply this abuse of process to Trump, claiming anyone who participated in an “insurrection” can not hold office. That was retribution and punitive and stripped the rights of the people denying them to be fairly represented in Congress.

Prior to the 14th Amendment, this denial of U.S. government representation was viewed as a function of practical reality and the war powers of Congress, and perhaps the “invasion or insurrection” and “Republican government” clauses of the U.S. Constitution. There was absolutely no constitutional validity to the actions taken by the Union. It cannot be a free government of the people when the people are not free to elect whomever they desire.

There is precedent for the expulsion of a Member of Congress. The United States Constitution (Article I, Section 5, Clause 2) provides that “Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.” There is a legal maxim known as:

Everything which is not forbidden is allowed.

It is the legal concept that any action can be taken unless a law is against it. It is also known in some situations as the “general power of competence,” whereby the body or person being regulated is acknowledged to have a competent judgment of their scope of action. Suppose we apply this to expelling the State of California from the United States. In that case, NO law stands in the way, and the precedent from the Civil War is bogus and unconstitutional, which was railroaded by military force.

Kevin McCarthy Tells Republican Caucus He Will Not Seek Speakership Again – Here’s My Thoughts


Posted originally on the CTH on October 3, 2023 | Sundance 

According to multiple DC media sources, a quiet effort is underway by members of the professionally republican mindset to kick Matt Gaetz out of the House Republican caucus.  However, the advocates worry they will be primaried by voters in their district, as the population of Republican voters supports Gaetz.  It is a duplicitous dynamic.

Meanwhile, Kevin McCarthy has told his Republican conference that despite prior statements, he will not attempt to become the House Speaker again and will instead retire to his home district in California.

No one is quite sure what comes next; what is clear is that Gaetz has channeled the frustration of the Republican/MAGA base into an actionable result.  This should not come as a surprise to the GOPe, although many of the cloistered clan continue pretending not to understand the dynamic at play.

Allow me to provide some simple clarity.

♦ In 2009 72% of the country, and an even larger percentage of the Republican voters, did not want Obamacare.  The govt takeover of healthcare was along purely ideological grounds.  For the 2010 midterm election, the professional Republican apparatus campaigned on this single issue – repeal Obamacare.  The voters destroyed the Democrats and flipped 67 seats to Republican control.  The professional Republicans wanted the House, frustrated American voters gave it to them.

The Republicans did nothing.

♦ In 2012, the professional Republicans campaigned on retaining the House and asked to begin a process of taking down the Democrat control of the Senate. Remember, it was a 60/40 Senate when the Obamacare boondoggle was begun.  Keep the House, help us take Senate seats, and we will repeal Obamacare and balance the budget.  That was the call of the 2012 professional Republicans.  The voters delivered.  The GOPe kept the house, took 6 seats in the Senate and introduced a wave of fresh Republican blood.

The Republicans did nothing.

♦ In the 2014 midterm election, the professional Republicans campaigned on retaining the House and now flipping the Senate with more GOP seats.  Keep the House, give us the Senate majority, and we will repeal Obamacare and deliver a balanced budget.  The voters again delivered.  Beginning in January 2015, the Republicans controlled the House and the Senate majorities for Obama’s last two years.

The Republicans did nothing.

Worse still, even with professional Republican control of both chambers of congress, President Obama never had to use his veto pen.

♦ In the 2016 election, after the professional Republicans could no longer stop/block candidate Donald Trump, they said if we get the White House, retain the House and retain the Senate, we will repeal Obamacare, return to regular budgetary order, and balance the budget.   Stunningly, against all the odds, the voters yet again delivered.  President Trump won the election; Republicans now held the White House, the House and the Senate – as requested.

The Republicans did nothing.

Worse still, the professional Republicans acted as if they were the dog that just caught the car.  Now they had no excuses, and as a result there was an exodus of retirements announced from the caucus of the professionally Republican to begin in 2018.

Simultaneously, the professional Republicans passively allowed the targeting of Donald Trump by a fully weaponized intelligence apparatus and justice system to commence.  To say the professionally Republican were willfully blind would be polite and generously honest.

In the background the RNC did nothing.  The California ballot harvesting operation of 2018 reflected a complete lack of action by the RNC or CA GOP.  We all well remember how that operation expanded nationwide in 2020, again with the RNC doing nothing.

This is the reality of what took place between the elections of 2010 and 2020.   Every ask of the professionally rRpublican apparatus was delivered by voters. Every ask of the voters in return was ignored.  Effective January 2021, Obamacare still exists, no budget was ever produced, the borders were unsecured, the economy tanked due to Biden policy, energy and printing presses.  Crises, along with insufferable government mandates, amplified and expanded from coast to coast.

The Green New Deal was passed by Republicans and Democrats, and the collapse of the economy came with it.

Clear enough?

Suddenly, as if there was no background of repeated broken promises and a complete failure to deliver on any key request, Kevin McCarthy and his legion of professionally Republican supporters pretend they cannot fathom why the base voters are more than happy to support Matt Gaetz.

WASHINGTON DC – Kevin McCarthy will not seek the speakership again, marking a devastating end to his time in GOP leadership.

The California Republican informed his members behind closed doors Tuesday night that he will forsake another attempt to win the top job after his ouster on Tuesday, according to seven people familiar with the remarks.

His announcement comes amid intense anger over his ouster by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and seven other GOP members, who voted with House Democrats to eject him earlier Tuesday. Most Republicans vocally opposed his eviction.

McCarthy told his conference that he would return to California to spend time with his family. In his stead, the House will be run by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), his hand-picked choice as acting speaker. House Republicans have no plans to return to session until next week, scrapping their plans to try to pass party-line spending bills.

The vacancy atop the House is sure to set off a scramble among ambitious Republicans — one that’s likely to get dirty and dragged-out, particularly if McCarthy’s deputies try to ascend. The GOP agrees that the most obvious choices are Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), all of whom had publicly backed McCarthy until he bowed out.

“I might have been given a bad break, but I’m still the luckiest man alive,” McCarthy said, according to multiple people in the room when he revealed he would not, as he’d vowed, keep trying to stay speaker.

[…] Republicans are willing to admit one thing: No one knows what the coming days, or weeks, will bring. (read more)

Battered Conservative no more!

The Rebellion Is Alive – Matt Gaetz Succeeds, Kevin McCarthy Has Been Removed as House Speaker


Posted originally on the CTH on October 3, 2023 | Sundance

In a historic first the House of Representatives has voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from his position as Speaker of the House.

Kevin McCarthy is officially removed.

[SOURCE]

WASHINGTON DC – Democrats joined with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and his small group of conservative allies to vote to strip Kevin McCarthy of his gavel Tuesday. It’s unclear who would succeed McCarthy long term, though his allies expect he will try to run for speaker again.

Eight Republicans voted against McCarthy: Reps. Eli Crane (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Tim Burchett (Tenn.).

Three House leaders have been floated as potential long-term replacements: Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). All three have disavowed any interest in replacing McCarthy — a reality that could change now that the Californian is officially out. (read more)

Livestream – The Big Ugly Is Raging – The House of Representatives Debates the Removal of Kevin McCarthy


Posted originally on the CTH on October 3, 2023 | Sundance

The House of Representatives is currently debating the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.  Earlier today, Democrats unanimously joined with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and 11 conservatives to support advancing the speaker’s removal.    Now Matt Gaetz is defending himself.

(Via Politico) – The Republicans who voted to proceed to a final vote on evicting McCarthy were Reps. Warren Davidson (Ohio), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Cory Mills (Fla.). Spartz has already said she plans to flip her stance and ultimately support keeping McCarthy on.

The House is expected to take a final vote on McCarthy’s leadership Tuesday afternoon.  Livestream Link:

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Sunday Talks – McCarthy Responds to Gaetz and Links U.S Border Security Bill to Ukraine Funding Bill


Posted originally on the CTH on October 1, 2023 | Sundance

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appeared on Face the Nation and Fox News to respond and defend himself from the UniParty accusations of Matt Gaetz.  As McCarthy stated in both interviews, he believes his job is not to represent Republicans, but rather as House Speaker he is to represent the interests of all Americans, including communists.

McCarthy knows the Democrats will protect him, as long as he continues making secret deals with them.  This is his shield against the removal threats of Matt Gaetz and other MAGA republicans in Congress.  Speaker McCarthy knows how to fly the UniParty vulture with both wings flapping in unison.  However, the Democrats visibly supporting him may present a problem, thus the next element of his discussion.

To retain his America-First Bonafides, McCarthy now links any Ukraine funding to the border security position.  McCarthy’s connection of the two issues is not related to a strategic legislative effort to get the border secured, but rather as a mechanism to allow him to fund his Ukraine priority.  Attaching border security measures gives him the cover, to provide the Ukraine funding.  WATCH:

MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to Face The Nation. Congress has done it once again. They’ve kicked the proverbial can down the road passing a 45 day funding bill to keep the government running. Now the deadline for getting spending bills passed is November 17th. Joining us this morning, the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy. Good morning, you’ve had a heck of a week.

HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yeah.

MARGARET BRENNAN: There is a lot to get to with you. I want to start though, on the news this morning from Congressman Matt Gatez, who says he’s going to seek a motion to vacate. He’s going to try to oust you as Speaker of the House.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: That’s nothing new. He’s tried to do that. From the moment I ran for the office. Look–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Well this time he says he’s going to keep going, may not get there before the 15th ballot but it took 15 for Kevin McCarthy. He says he’s coming for you, can you survive?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Yes, I’ll survive. You know this is personal with Matt. Matt voted against the most conservative ability to protect our border, secure our border. He’s more interested in securing TV interviews than doing something, he wanted to push us into a shutdown, even threatening his own district with all the military people there who would not be paid only because he wants to take this motion. So be it, bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing. If he’s upset because he tried to push us in a shutdown and I made sure government didn’t shut down, then let’s have that fight.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You need 218 votes to vacate. Has Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader said that he will–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –No, he hasn’t said–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –No what?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: He hasn’t said anything about what he’s going to do, look–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Will Democrats-Democrats could cross over and follow Gaetz’s lead on this–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Yeah, he he–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –His–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Look, Gaetz is trying to work with Democrats. He’s reached out to Swalwell, to AOC and others. But if that’s the way we’re going to govern, I don’t think America is going to be successful. Look, at the end of the day, think of everything we’ve been able to accomplish so far. Parents Bill of Rights, we passed the most conservative bill to protect our border, make America energy independent. We’ve been able to cut $2 trillion, and the debt ceiling, work requirements back in. The hard part we have right now–

MARGARET BRENNAN:–yeah–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –is the Senate has not passed one appropriation bill. Each body is supposed to pass 12. We’ve passed more than 70% of the discretionary spending already.

MARGARET BRENNAN: –But those–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –I thought it was appropriate–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Surviving in the Senate and making it into law.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Well, you said that–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –and we have 45 days to–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –you said that  same thing when we, when we stopped the DC from decriminalizing everything. You said the same thing when we said we’re going to

MARGARET BRENNAN:  –I don’t think I ever talked about those things–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Well no–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –to be honest with you–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: you and, maybe the press would do think, why pass it because the Senate won’t take it up and won’t sign it. Most in the press probably thought we would have shut down yesterday too. But no, we did not.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Were you confident we wouldn’t shut down?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: I was confident I could get something on the floor to make sure the option that we would not–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –But you weren’t–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –but our military–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –sure it was going to pass.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Well, well I wasn’t sure it was gonna pass. You want to know why? Because the Democrats tried to do everything they can, not to let it pass.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Democrats were the ones who voted for the–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Did you, did you watch–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –and a large number of Republicans to keep the continuing resolution alive

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Did you watch the floor yesterday?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Oh. Yes–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Okay then–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –90 Republicans voted against it.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Okay, so let’s walk. Let’s walk through what actually happened. First of all, the Democrats stood up and did dilatory actions asked to adjourn. So it was that supporting to adjourn? Then they used the Magic Minute. They went as far as pulling the fire alarm not to try to get the bill to come up. Look Democrats stick together, but they did not want the bill. They did not, they were willing to let government shutdown for our military not to be paid. No, I wasn’t. We’re going to make sure we keep it open while we finish the job we’re supposed to do.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You got 45 days?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: That’s right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY:  –Well, technically 47. But–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, Senator Cornyn said of you last night, you pulled a rabbit out of the hat a couple of times. I mean, he’s acknowledging this was tough. Are we going to be staring down another shutdown?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Well it all comes down to the Senate, the Senate hasn’t done one thing.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But in the House, are we going to be facing another shutdown November 17?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: No, because the House is doing their work. We’ve already done more than 70% of it. So compare this to the Senate. The Senate hasn’t passed one bill. The Senate didn’t pass anything about the shutdown. The Senate hasn’t passed anything about securing the border. The Senate hasn’t passed anything about $100 a barrel–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –The House hasn’t passed anything about the border that could actually could become law–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Yes we have–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –not that could become law.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: That’s your opinion. The House is its own body. The Senate is his own body. We’re not going to surrender to the Senate. We passed what the American people want. I will tell you each and every day- and don’t take my word for it. You’re going to have the governor of New York on it, who told people to go somewhere else. The New York City Mayor literally says destroying the city–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Will you have–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: No, let me answer your question since you said we wouldn’t do something. Do you know the governor of Massachusetts has declared a state of emergency? This is one of the number one crises

MARGARET BRENNAN: Absolutely.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY:–as far from the border as you can see. This is killing Americans every single day–

MARGARET BRENNAN: There was no border funding in the continuing resolution that passed last night, but let me ask you–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –No no no, But that’s not fair to just say that–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Well there wasn’t.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Okay, well, let’s- let’s educate the viewers why there wasn’t because the day before there was, but Matt Gaetz and others

MARGARET BRENNAN: –yup–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –denied that and voted no. So we could have had border security.

MARGARET BRENNAN: –okay–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –I went all the way through everything we could to the last moment–

MARGARET BRENNAN:–yeah–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY:  And you know what? We’re going to be able to win that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: When will you be able to bring a vote on Ukraine aid? The White House says that you have-are going to do this quickly.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Look, the priority for me is America and our borders. Now, I support being able to make sure Ukraine has the weapons that they need. But I firmly support the border first. So we’ve got to find a way that we can do this together.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you mean the border first, because the White House briefed Congress that 45 days, they don’t have enough money–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: They have more–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –Allow them to get–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: They have more than three, they have more than three billion dollars right now, to be able to help them get through it. If they have some challenge, we can sit down, and we can talk about that. But the American border matters and more–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Of Course.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –more Americans are dying on our border than Americans are dying in Ukraine.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you are explicitly right now linking any Ukraine aid vote to a border bill–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY:–I’m telling–

MARGARET BRENNAN:–it won’t be a stand alone Ukraine bill?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY:  I’m telling you that the American border matters. And that is our priority to make sure we secure that–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –So that has to move first?–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –I’m going to make sure that the weapons are provided for Ukraine, but they’re not going to get some big package if the border is not secure.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you haven’t figured out yet the vehicle through which to move that Ukraine aid or a date by which to do it?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: We will work with people in need. But the one thing the White House has to understand, they better be prepared to secure American border.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What does that mean, specifically? What are you looking for there?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Well, the- the bill you think that won’t go anywhere could easily do it, H.R. 2. Remain in Mexico, finish the wall. You’ve got to change asylum to be able to secure this border.

MARGARET BRENNAN: That is the bill, the border bill, that you want passed–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –Yes–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –and you are now–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –not want

MARGARET BRENNAN: –it sounds like attaching it to Ukraine aid–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Not that I- Not that I want it passed. It is passed and the Senate has done nothing. So let’s see where the Senate–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –You just said you wanted border first. So you’re not talking about holding a new vote in the House on the border. I’m trying to clarify what you’re talking about here.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Okay, not to be- but how it works is the House passes a bill, the Senate passes a bill, and you go to conference. The House has already done their job

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yes

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: the Senate-and we’ve done this in Approps. The Senate has done nothing. So what I am saying is when you saw government funding, there is a need for Ukraine. I support being able to provide the weapons to Ukraine

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yup–

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: –but America comes first.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, so you’re not sequencing the bills or was- weren’t meaning to suggest that in your comments earlier.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Okay. I want to make sure I understood that. How much harder did your job get when Donald Trump came out and said that Republicans should shut down if they don’t get everything they need? And are you going to endorse him explicitly?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: Look, I think- I think President Trump’s going to be our nominee and President Trump’s going to win because President Trump’s policies made America stronger. We didn’t have inflation. We had a secure border–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Are you endorsing him now?

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: We didn’t have $100 barrel oil. So what I totally find is the president is going to be our nominee, the president is going to win reelection, President Trump, for the basis that we want to make America stronger. And the other thing too is look what’s happening in foreign policy today. You’ve got five American embassies that had to be evacuated. You’ve got this new axis of power growing against- you’ve got a challenge when you- our own allies are now turning towards China. It’s a lack of leadership, not just in foreign policy within our border and everywhere else. This president has been in elected office for 50 years. Do you know he has spent more dinners with Hunter Biden’s business associates than he has visiting the border? Yeah, don’t you think that’s important though? One time in 50 years. Do you know how many people will die today from fentanyl coming across our border?

MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s a scourge.

SPEAKER MCCARTHY: It’s the equivalent of an airliner crashing every single day in America and they refuse to even visit it or do something about it so we are going to make sure this border becomes secure.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We will watch for what that means legislatively. Speaker, thank you very much for your time today.

The Fox News Interview is below: